1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a socket member, more particularly to a socket member that includes elongated first and second terminal elements clamped together in order to form a signal transmission terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Due to rapid development in the digital electronic technology, more and more consumer electronic devices have been invented for daily use. Hence, a socket member for receiving the electronic device plays an important role since electricity is supplied via the socket member. FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a conventional socket member.
As illustrated, the conventional socket member 1 includes an insulated body 11, a ground-contact element 12, a plurality of plastic cushion pads 13 and a plurality of signal terminals 14. The insulated body 11 has a plurality of posts 111 projecting from a first side thereof, a plurality of L-shaped channels 112 formed in a second side thereof and a plurality of slits 113 extending through the posts 111 and the L-shaped channels 112 respectively.
The ground-contact element 12 includes a planar plate 122, a plurality of metal posts 121 projecting from the planar plate 122, a plurality of through holes 123 extending through the plate and the posts 122, 121 and at least one ground terminal 124 projecting from one end of the plate 122. The ground-contact element 12 is made from metal, such as copper. The cushion pad 13 is sleeved over the metal post 121 in order to prevent deformation of the post 121 in case of an external impact. The signal terminal 14 has a first contact section 141, a second contact section 142 and a transmission section 143. The signal terminal 14 is a one-piece member and is punched integrally from a metal plate, such as copper.
After assembly, the posts 111 of the insulated body extend respectively into the through holes 123 in the ground-contact element 12, thereby coupling the insulated body and the ground-contact element 12 together. Moreover, the signal terminals 14 are respectively received within the L-shaped channels 112 in the insulated body 11 in such a manner that the first and second contact section 141, 142 of a respective signal terminal 14 are inserted into the respective slits 113, thereby mounting the signal terminals 14 within the insulated body 11. Under this condition, when a mating plug member (not shown) is inserted into the slits 113 of the insulated body 11 via the metal posts, the mating plug member will touch the first and second contact sections 141, 142 of the signal terminals 14, thereby allowing a signal transmission through the plug and socket members.
Note that when the mating plug member (not shown) touches the first and second contact sections 141, 142 of the signal terminals 14, the latter two move away from each other along the D1 and D2 directions. Since the thickness of resilient range E of the respective terminal 14 is greater than the width thereof, the terminal 14 has a low bending strength. Under this condition, frequent plug-out and plug-in operations of the mating plug relative to the socket member 1 may result in weakness in the resilient range of the terminal 14, finally leading breakage of the first and second contact sections 141, 142 in the terminals 14.
In addition, it requires tin soldering for fixing the transmission section 143 of each terminal 14 in the conventional socket member and the insulated body 11 is required to be constructed from a high-heat resistant insulated material, which, in turn, causes extra expense for the manufacturers.
FIG. 2 illustrates how the signal terminals employed in the conventional socket member are punched via the molding process. Generally, a mold (not shown) is used for punching a thin and elongated metal plate in order to form a F-shaped metal strip 10, which latter undergoes a bending process (not shown), thereby forming the signal terminal 14.
It is obvious from FIG. 2 that after the punching operation onto the thin and elongated metal plate to form the F-shaped metal strips 10, a relatively large area W is left as waste. Moreover, in the conventional socket member, the post 121, the planar plate 122 and the ground terminal 124 of the ground-contact element 12 are all made from metal and thus a lot of manufacturing expense is resulted and in fact the ground-contact element 12 is only intended for grounding purpose, there is no need to use so much amount of metal.